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Chicago has been slowly replacing its yellow sodium streetlamps with efficient LEDs that project down instead of up. They've been working block-by-block in a s

by 3JPLW 7y ago

Chicago has been slowly replacing its yellow sodium streetlamps with efficient LEDs that project down instead of up. They've been working block-by-block in a systematic way that you can see when you fly into the city at night. It's quite dramatic.

paulie_a 7y ago
Did Chicago figure out the issue with LEDs and snow. The old lights melted snow, the LED lights did not
- jschwartzi 7y ago
  Chicago plows.
  - ceejayoz 7y ago
    Snow on the lights, not the roads. I discovered LED headlights on cars don’t melt off the ice like incandescent do the last time I drove in an ice storm.
- reaperducer 7y ago
  The LED and snow issue is about traffic lights, which are horizontal and therefore subject to getting filled with blowing snow. Streetlights face down and don't have a cavity to fill with snow.
  - Neeek 7y ago
    It's also FUD, it's trivial to add a heater to the LEDs and still come in at a lower wattage than a tradition lamp.
    - iso947 7y ago
      Great video on it and why the “ahh but” people should be shot. https://youtu.be/GiYO1TObNz8 https://youtu.be/GiYO1TObNz8
- abrowne 7y ago
  We've been getting LED street lights in Minneapolis, so can't be a problem now.
maxerickson 7y ago
My town replaced the sodium light across the street with a LED. A lot more light comes in the windows now. It sucks.
- astura 7y ago
  You can't use blackout curtains?
  - maxerickson 7y ago
    Not the point. The light is far enough away from the windows that there is zero reason for it to shining on them.
- zimpenfish 7y ago
  I saw one that was relatively close to an old house's window and it had a backplate installed which I thought was most kind. (Somewhere around Peckham, I've a feeling near Sceaux Gardens, IIRC.)
- Shivetya 7y ago
  Same with my subdivision, the local power company made a pass a few years ago and replaced every other street lamp with a LED. They also took the old larger lens covers to. The first observation was the it was like living with nearly a full moon out all the time; this increased after all lights were replaced. They produce very clean light which appears to reflect more than the old orange light color. the second was that birds in my front holly bushes and thuja trees took some time adapting to the newly lit world; at first they sang/chirped at night hours. LED lights are amazing for efficiency to the point light pollution will increase simply because it cost so little to keep the lights on; I know I am guilt of that around Christmas as I run nearly five hundred feet of LED lighting then and don't even see the effect on my bill
lb1lf 7y ago
Same goes for Berlin[0] - where the eastern districts are still predominantly sodium-lit, whereas whiter lights are used in the western part. [0] https://www.citymetric.com/horizons/you-can-see-berlin-s-east-west-divide-space-886 https://www.citymetric.com/horizons/you-can-see-berlin-s-eas... Edit: As I continued farther downthread, I saw that this had already been mentioned; my apologies.

by 3JPLW 7y ago

paulie_a 7y ago

Did Chicago figure out the issue with LEDs and snow. The old lights melted snow, the LED lights did not

jschwartzi 7y ago
Chicago plows.
- ceejayoz 7y ago
  Snow on the lights, not the roads. I discovered LED headlights on cars don’t melt off the ice like incandescent do the last time I drove in an ice storm.
reaperducer 7y ago
The LED and snow issue is about traffic lights, which are horizontal and therefore subject to getting filled with blowing snow. Streetlights face down and don't have a cavity to fill with snow.
- Neeek 7y ago
  It's also FUD, it's trivial to add a heater to the LEDs and still come in at a lower wattage than a tradition lamp.
  - iso947 7y ago
    Great video on it and why the “ahh but” people should be shot. https://youtu.be/GiYO1TObNz8 https://youtu.be/GiYO1TObNz8
abrowne 7y ago
We've been getting LED street lights in Minneapolis, so can't be a problem now.

maxerickson 7y ago

My town replaced the sodium light across the street with a LED. A lot more light comes in the windows now. It sucks.

astura 7y ago
You can't use blackout curtains?
- maxerickson 7y ago
  Not the point. The light is far enough away from the windows that there is zero reason for it to shining on them.
zimpenfish 7y ago
I saw one that was relatively close to an old house's window and it had a backplate installed which I thought was most kind. (Somewhere around Peckham, I've a feeling near Sceaux Gardens, IIRC.)
Shivetya 7y ago
Same with my subdivision, the local power company made a pass a few years ago and replaced every other street lamp with a LED. They also took the old larger lens covers to. The first observation was the it was like living with nearly a full moon out all the time; this increased after all lights were replaced. They produce very clean light which appears to reflect more than the old orange light color. the second was that birds in my front holly bushes and thuja trees took some time adapting to the newly lit world; at first they sang/chirped at night hours. LED lights are amazing for efficiency to the point light pollution will increase simply because it cost so little to keep the lights on; I know I am guilt of that around Christmas as I run nearly five hundred feet of LED lighting then and don't even see the effect on my bill

lb1lf 7y ago

Same goes for Berlin[0] - where the eastern districts are still predominantly sodium-lit, whereas whiter lights are used in the western part. [0] https://www.citymetric.com/horizons/you-can-see-berlin-s-east-west-divide-space-886 https://www.citymetric.com/horizons/you-can-see-berlin-s-eas... Edit: As I continued farther downthread, I saw that this had already been mentioned; my apologies.